ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Gator women's soccer team dropped its 2016 season-opener by a 3-0 score at Nazareth College.
 
A fast start propelled Nazareth (1-0) to the win, as the Golden Flyers scored a pair of goals in the first 30 minutes, before adding an insurance marker just 16 seconds into the second stanza.
 
The Golden Flyers tested Allegheny keeper Christina Gallgher early, as the sophomore recorded three saves in the first 13 minutes of action.  In the 18th minute, the hosts found pay dirt on a goal by Jessica Byrnes. 
 
Over the next 10-plus minutes, the bulk of the play was contested in the middle third of the field, before the Golden Flyers had another chance in the 30th minute, when Michaela Soules was sprung for a breakaway.  Her shot from 15 yards out clanged off the crossbar, but a fortuitous bounce placed the rebound right onto the foot of Samantha Sansone, who placed a high, arching shot just inside the far post and into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Gators then regrouped to hold possession for long stretches over the final third of the opening half, with freshman Kayla Redner posting the team's first two shots on goal, including a straight-on blast from 15 yards out that was snuffed out by Nazareth keeper Allison Dobies with six minutes left in the half.  It was the final attempt for either squad in the first half, as the hosts entered the break with a 2-0 advantage.
 
Nazareth, which outshot Allegheny 9-2 over the first half, quickly added onto its lead to open up the second frame, as Mary Kate Orway took a pass right off of the opening kick and buried it from straight on to make it 3-0 16 seconds into play.
 
After Gallagher's fifth save of the day in the 52nd minute, the Gator offense looked to cut into the deficit, tallying three shots and a corner kick over a three-minute span, but were unable to find the net.   The pendulum again swung the way of the Golden Flyers, who posted the game's next six shots, but Gallagher tallied two more saves to keep the deficit at three.
 
The Nazareth flurry marked the last real scoring chances for either squad, as the Golden Flyers defense kept the Gators at bay, ceding no shots and just one Allegheny corner over the final 22 minutes of the match.
 
Gallagher played all 90 minutes in goal for the Gators and finished with sixth saves, the third-highest amount of her career.  Redner tallied a team-best two shots in her debut, while Jessie Thiessen, Kayla Dantona, and Isabella Martinez each recorded one shot apiece.
 
Allegheny will face a quick turnaround as it looks to even its record, with the Gators wrapping up their two-day weekend in Rochester with a 4 p.m. match at Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon.